They make long trek from Texas to St. Louis for Game 3 of NLCS and get to watch the rookie outfielder hit a home run against Matt Cain.

Not that they expected him to play, not in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series, but the parents of St. Louis Cardinals rookie Matt Carpenter drove here Wednesday, just for the game.

They live in Texas.

"They took off at, I think, like, 3:30 in the morning," Carpenter said. "I'm not sure how long a drive it is. I think it's, like, nine hours."

In the second inning, Carpenter replaced outfielder Carlos Beltran, whom the Cardinals listed as day to day because of a strained left knee. In the third inning, in his first at-bat, Carpenter hit a home run against San Francisco Giants ace Matt Cain, giving him five hits in five at-bats against Cain.

"Really, there's no explanation," Carpenter said. "He's one of the best in the game, obviously. I think we all know that."

Goat hunter

Giants outfielder Hunter Pence called himself "the goat" of the game after leaving five men on base. He is batting .161 in 31 postseason at-bats, with no extra-base hits and no runs batted in.

The Cardinals intentionally walked Buster Posey in the third inning to get to Pence, who hit into a double play.

"A lot of sitting," he said. "I walked to the kitchen. I walked to the training room. I walked to the bathroom. I sat some more."

Short hops

Giants Manager Bruce Bochy said Barry Zito would start Game 5 in place of Madison Bumgarner, who failed to survive the fourth inning in Game 1. … Giants second baseman Marco Scutaro, who suffered knee and hip injuries when Matt Holliday slid into him in Game 2, had two hits in Game 3.